DOJ Confirms Eric Holder Vetted Search Warrant For James Rosen Emails

Attorney General Eric Holder signed off on the decision to seek the personal emails of a Fox News reporter by suggesting he was a “co-conspirator” in a criminal leak case, the Department of Justice confirmed in a statement on Friday.

The department “took great care in deciding that a search warrant was necessary in the Kim matter, vetting the decision at the highest levels of the Department, including discussions with the Attorney General,” the DOJ said in a statement about the search warrant seeking James Rosen’s emails.

The government is prosecuting Stephen Jin-Woo Kim, a former State Department official who is accused of giving Rosen, a reporter for Fox, classified information. The DOJ treated Rosen as a “co-conspirator” and told a judge it was considering charges against him in an effort to get his emails.

“After extensive deliberations, and after following all applicable laws, regulations and policies, the Department sought an appropriately tailored search warrant under the Privacy Protection Act. And a federal magistrate judge made an independent finding that probable cause existed to approve the search warrant,” the statement on Friday said.